       (as-> (r/table table-name) query
         (r/get-all query index-value {:index index-name})
            ;; Filter out:
-        (if start
+        (if-not (string/blank? start)
           (r/filter query (r/fn [row]
             ;; All records after/before the start
             (direction-filter direction start (r/get-field row :published-at))))

      (as-> (r/table table-name) query
        (r/get-all query index-value {:index index-name})
        ;; Filter out:
        (if start
          (r/filter query (r/fn [row]
            (direction-filter direction start (r/get-field row :published-at))))
          query)

  "CRUD function to retrieve entries from RethinkDB with pagination."
  (:require [clj-time.core :as t]
            [rethinkdb.query :as r]
            [cuerdas.core :as string]
            [oc.lib.schema :as lib-schema]
            [oc.storage.config :as config]
            [oc.lib.time :as lib-time]
